hawthorne



Jan. 31, 1956 o. v. HAWTHORNE UNIVERSAL MAST MOUNTING DEVICE Filed Jan.3 1951 O/VIEI? 1 HAWTHORNE 3nvcntor United States Patent UNIVERSAL MASTMOUNTING DEVICE Omer V. Hawthorne, Otsego, Mich., assignor to Harry J.Moll, Kalamazoo, Mich.

Application January 3,1951, Serial No. 204,163 6 Claims. (Cl. 248-40)This invention relates to a mast mounting, particularly to a universalmounting by means of which the masts of radio and television antennae,flag poles and the like can be mounted on roofs, corner members or sidewalls of buildings or in other desirable locations.

Television and frequency modulated radio receiving sets generallyoperate much better when an outside aerial is provided and this is oftentrue of receiving sets for nonfrequency modulated radio waves as well.The mounting of masts for such aerials and for flagpoles and othermastlike structures on buildings, where they are usually desired, hasheretofore presented certain problems due to the lack of suitabledevices for supporting the mast in a desired position which can beattached readily in a convenient place on the building, which are sturdyand neat appearing and, in particular, which have universal featurespermitting them to be secured to the building in a position where theywill be inconspicuous and where the screws or nails used to secure themwill do the least harm to the building regardless of the slope of thesurface or surfaces to which the mounting is secured. It is not alwaysdesirable, for instance, to mount the mast on the roof of a building butrather on a vertical side or corner of the structure where it can besecured to a more solid member and wherethe driving of nails or screwsthrough the roof surface will be avoided. When such a mast is to bemounted on a roof surface it is desirable in some instances to mount itat the peak and, in other instances, to mount it on one of the slopingsections removed from the peak or ridge. Such masts and poles mustusually be mounted in a vertical position and this has limited seriouslythe type of surfaces on which they could be mounted using hithertoavailable mounting devices.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a mountingfor masts for radio and television aerials, flag poles and the like.

An additional object is to provide a mast mounting which can be securedto substantially any fiat, sloping or angular surfaces and yet allow themast to extend vertically upward.

An additional object is to provide a universal mast mounting deviceadapted to receive masts of different sizes and to mount them on roofsand structural members of different sorts.

These and related objects are accomplished readily and economically bythe device of the invention which can best be understood by reference tothe accompanying drawings wherein, in the interest of clarity, certainfeatures are shown on a somewhat exaggerated scale and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a universal mast mounting embodyingfeatures of the invention and secured to a fiat surface,

Figure 2 is a side elevation, partially in section, of a universal mastmounting similar to that of Figure 1 secured astride the ridge of acommon gable roof, and

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the universal mast 2,733,030 PatentedJan. 31, 1956 mounting of Figure 1 in yet another position and securedto a square corner of a vertical member.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, a pair of base plates 11 are provided eachof which is adapted to be secured, as by screws 12 or by nails or boltsto a surface. In Figure 1 the base plates 11 are illustrated as securedon the top surface of a flat roof 14. In Figure 2 the plates 11 areillustrated as secured on the sloping surfaces adjacent to and onopposite sides of the ridge 15 of a common gable roof. In Figure 3 theplates 11 are illustrated as secured on adjacent vertical sides of anupright square cornered structural member 16.

Each of the base plates 11 is hinged along one edge, herein sometimesreferred to as its facing edge since in the completed device it liesnearest the corresponding edge or" the other base plate, to an edge orbase of one of a pair of socket clamping members 17, the function ofwhich will be explained later. Any suitable hinging arrangement can beemployed to join each base plate to the corresponding clamping member.One such suitable arrangement illustrated in the drawing consists of apair of thickened and reinforced lugs or projections 18 formed along thefacing edge of the base plate 11, each of which is bored to receive ahinge bolt 19 longitudinally parallel with the facing edge. The clampingmember 17 is bored longitudinally through its base portion 22 of Figure3, and is mounted on the hinge bolt 19 between the lugs 18. It willgenerally be found convenient to provide for a rotation of each of thebase plates about the hinge bolt 19 in the completed device from aposition substantially coplanar with the respective clamping member 17through an angle of at least about degrees in a direction outward andaway from the other base plate in which posi tion the base plates willbe substantially coplanar with one another, the clamping members 17being substantially parallel with one another in the finished mountingas will hereinafter be apparent. Each of the clamping members 17 isbored at a point removed from its hinged edge to receive a clamping bolt23 bearing a clamping bolt nut 28.

A mast socket 24 is provided for receiving a mast 25 which it is desiredto mount. The mast socket 24 is a generally tubular member of convenientinternal diameter provided near its upper or mast-receiving end withthree or more centering bolts 26 and lock nuts 27 for centering the mastin the socket. The mast socket is bored transversely near its lower endto receive the clampthe bolt 23 on which it is mounted between theclamping members 17 and on which it turns freely until the clampingmembers 17 are pressed against it by tightening the clamping bolt nut28. The lower portion of the outer surface of the mast socket ispreferably provided with flat clamp-engaging surfaces 29 surrounding andnormal to the longitudinal axis of the clamping bolt 23 to providebetter frictional engagement between the mast socket and the clampingmembers.

In a preferred modification, each clamping member 17 is in the forms ofa substantially flat plate thickened somewhat along one edge, i. e.,along its base 22, to accommodate the bore for the hinge bolt 19 and isrounded at its opposite end to form an arc of about degrees or somewhatless and having the hole through which the clamping bolt 23 extends atthe center of the arc, the width of the member continuing to increasebeyond the ends of the 180 degree arc as shown clearly in Figure 3. Aprojection on the flat, clamp-engaging face 29 of the mast socket 24,conveniently a shoulder remaining when a part of the outer surface ofthe wall of the socket is cut away to form the flat face 29, is spacedat a suflicient distance from the clamping bolt bore in the socket toclear the arced outer end of the clamping member 17 as the socket memberis rotated on the clamping bolt, but so that it engages the sloping edge33 of the clamping member near the end of the 180 degree section of are.In this way the rotation of the about the clamping bolt 23 is limited toabout 180 degrees, or about 90 degrees in either direction from aposition wherein its longitudinal axis is perpendicular to a planecontaining the longitudinal axes of the two hinge bolts 19. This isoften convenient in mounting a mast because the mast can be secured inthe mast socket while in a horizontal position and then elevated into anupright position. At the same time the mast is not so likely to becomedamaged by being laid directly on the roof or other surface on which itis to be mounted.

The bore, 34 of Figure 2, of the mast socket is pref erably formed witha downwardly decreasing diameter immediately above the clamping bolt 23to provide for the automatic centering of masts of different diametersand also to prevent entry of the mast too far into the socket. The bore34 also preferably extends clear through the mast socket member 24 andis open at its lower end to provide for drainage of water which mayenter the upper end of the bore around the mast 25.

I claim:

1. In a mast mounting device, the combination including: a pair ofseparate base plates each adapted to be secured to a surface; a pair ofsubstantially flat socket clamping members each hinged at its base alongone edge of the base plates; a generally tubular mast socket adapted atone end to receive an end of a mast and positioned with its other endbetween the two clamping members; a clamping bolt extending through thetwo clamping members and transversely through the mast sockettherebetween; and a clamping bolt nut threadably engaging an end of theclamping bolt, the clamping members being adapted to frictionally engagethe outer surface of the mast socket and prevent its rotation about theclamping bolt when the clamping bolt nut is tightened.

2. A combination as claimed in claim 1 including means to prevent therotation of the mast socket about the clamping bolt through an anglegreater than about 180 degrees when the clamping bolt nut is loosened.

mast socket 24 3. A combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein thetubular mast socket is contoured on its outer surface to provide a pairof fiat faces for frictionally engaging the socket clamping members.

4. A combination as claimed in claim 1 including means for centering amast received by the mast socket.

5. A combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein the central bore of themast socket is of downwardly decreasing diameter over a section removedfrom its mast-receiving end to a center and prevent the further entryinto the socket of a mast received thereby.

6. In a mast-mounting device, the combination including: a pair ofseparate base plates each adapted to be secured to a surface; a pair ofsocket clamping members having opposed substantially fiat surfaces, eachmember being hinged at its base along an edge of one of the base plates;a generally tubular mast socket adapted at one of its ends to receive anend of a mast and at its other end to engage in fiat surface contact theopposing faces of the two clamping members; and clamping means to clampthe mast socket between the two socket-clamping members adapted, whentightened, to prevent movement of the mast socket and the twosocket-clamping members with respect to one another and, when loosened,to permit relative independent rotation thereof about a common axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS417,815 Diek Dec. 24, 1889 804,390 Duffy Nov. 14, 1905 1,339,833Sattmarsh May 11, 1920 1,501,998 Hantord July 22, 1924 1,661,930Dietrich Mar. 6, 1928 1,883,508 Bonday Oct. 18, 1932 2,439,061 Shur Apr.6, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES JFD, T. V. Antenna Catalog, March 10, 1949.

